the word philology really sums up what douceurs is fundamentally based on:
"an affinity towards the leaning of the backgrounds as well as the current usages of spoken or written methods of communication."
communication
"the act or process of communicating; the imparting or interchanging of thoughts, opinions or information by speech, writing or signs."
the inspiration for this project stems from the passion i feel for words, books, story telling, poems, sonnets and etemology.
my initial research has consisted of looking into the act of conversation. theory. semiotics. handwriting. old english. poetry. sonnets. foreign language. products.mediums and tools we use to communicate
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products such as pens.pencils.quills.parchment.brushed.computer mouse.telephone. type writer. keyboard. books. radio. have been routes of research.
my aim is to remediate a dead media and create a new platform for a functionally intelligent object of communication. to create an insightful project which meshes the simplicity and humanness of old communication with the technology based communication tools we use today.
thinking about my business case.this is an area that i believe is vital in order to give my design the reality and validity i want it to have. business plan will come into play later on in the project. i do know at this stage that my final product in not really for mass consumption. it will be a limited expensive piece. companies who i will be relating my business plan to are groups such as royal mail and orange.
branding is important to me and i want to create fresh, insightful and consistent brand that people can associate with my product and myself as a designer.
when looking at the business behind my product, this is always difficult as i do not know what my final concept will be yet. however, shortbread are a scottish online company. the way they have structured their business will act as a sort of blueprint for me, of what my project could potentially become. the two founders of the company robin pilcher and william thomson have taken the old concept of borrowing books and buying books and combined it with a current technology to create an online service for downloading audio books and short stories.
technology is also a huge part of this project. i am attracted to the idea of the technology in my product being some kind of hidden magic. in a sense i want to create an object with a mind of its own. i intent to experiment with limitations of materials and what potential their surfaces have for being mediums of communication. i am going to play with electro luminescent paper and wire .
processing. this is the area i really want to get to grips with. experimenting with words, letters and screens at first and then hopefully developing something visually elegant .
subtle and simple.
here are examples of materials that have pushed the limits of mediums for communication.
a beautiful concept full of technology is the industrial clock by designer yugo nakamura
design is fundmentally about people. people are at the heart of this project. and this is the section i feel i will excell in. i have a vast amount of research planned. some will be lengthy and structured. others short and unstructured. i want to take ownerships of techniques and adapt them.which may ultimately lead to moving away from typical needs to designing for an unusual need.
collecting data and sources are guiding me and inspiring me the more information i gather. i believe these images have such charm and depth...a sense i want to capture in my project.
i carried out some quick an dirty research experiments. firstly, using paper aeroplanes as a medium for communication which was great fun. i intend to carry out a lost sock experiment. messages in a bottle. i created a research experiment looking using balloons as a method of communication. i would like to thank the members of the public who took part. here are some images and a video to show some results.
i also went on a trip to aberdeen to carry out some extreme user interviews. rapid ethnography. historical analysis. draw the experience. character profiles. social network mapping. this trip was wonderful for taking me back to the way communication used to be. friends of my aunts, a group of elderly ladies, welcomed me into their home and relayed many memories about lots of things ranging from mobile phones to chewing gum.
we ate cakes and drank lots of tea. the ladies brought along letters, telegrams and old letters to discuss.
this trip made me realise the romance and history is lost. i want to bring it back. the creation of a poetic solution which encompasses the beauty and simplicaity of old media communicatin with new methods of communication.
ideas i am having at the moment are based on self experssion and recodring information. like a piano you can open and play.
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